Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Part 2
Last week I discussed Coneflowers and shasta daisies. This week, let's move on to Russian Sage and Rue which are also hardy plants in USDA Zone 5. As with all the plants in this series, these grow well in dry, clay soil, with part-sun. They also ... [... more]
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Soil Texture: From Sand To Clay
GardenLine / Porpourri - Miscellaneous / Soil Texture: From Sand To Clay Gardeners often have problems with the way their soil "handles." At one extreme is the heavy clay soil, which is sticky when wet and like concrete when dry. At the other .. [... more]
University of Saskatchewan |
52 Weeks in the California Garden
 FINALLY !: Thank You Mr. Smaus ! Finally a book that talks directly to the Southern California gardener. If you live and garden in the So. CA area this is the book you need. Maybe I won't have so many failures in the coming year. This book opened my eyes [... more]
CDN$17.01
Amazon CA |
Gardening for the Future of the Earth
TRULY INSPIRATIONAL: This is a truly wonderful book and a very good read for anyone interested in the well being of the earth. Subjects such as permaculture, improving soil, water harvesting, seed saving and the importance of seed diversity are all [... more]
CDN$28.42
Amazon CA |
Really Small Gardens
Practical planning for the small garden: Really Small Gardens. This is the Royal Horticultural Society's "practical guide to gardening in a truly small space" and it is a very comprehensive guide to planning a small garden. The author has [... more]
CDN$24.95
Amazon CA |
Maggie Ross's English Garden in Texas
A beautiful English garden, complete with espalier, growing in the clay soil of Texas - a minor miracle! Our subdivision is built on used-to-be prairie grasslands of a two-inch chocolate-brown-clay icing spread over a white cake of ... [... more]
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Leaves of Gold
Leaves are the single most important soil amendment for sandy as well as clay soil. They not only keep the soil healthy, they improve the nutrient value of the food grown on that soil. Have you noticed how supermarket produce starts to rot before ... [... more]
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Adding Perlite, Vermiculite, or Sand to Clay
Does your garden have heavy, wet clay soil? Here's how to amend it so your plants will thrive instead of struggling to survive. Planting plants in heavy clay soil is just like standing them on cement: they'll struggle for a while and then die. If ... [... more]
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Daffodil Crossing
Daffodils are very hardy, and will grow just about anywere. Even in clay soil, lawns, and in cattle pastures. It's March 2001, and my daffodils are hardly more than showing a couple of inches above the ground. I'm off to another late season, or ... [... more]
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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil - Part 4
Part 4 of a series of articles on plants that have thrived in dry, clay soils, in light shade. Coreopsis, sometimes called, tickseed, is a highly prized plant in the perennial border. I've grown Coreopsis grandiflora, C. lanceolata, and C. ... [... more]
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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Part 3
This week let's talk about my favorite, tough perennial plant - Lavandula angustifolia. I grow this plant next to the Rue and Russian Sage discussed last week. I've also planted it in my backyard, in a triangle shape, surrounded by daylilies in ... [... more]
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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Part I
Last week I introduced this series by describing the growing conditions of two of my perennial beds. Remember the impossible combination of conditions I faced: hot, dry, clay soil, noon-time sun only. Let's begin looking at plants that not only ... [... more]
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